I recently spent two weeks in Germany and the Czech Republic visiting Frederician battlefields of the SYW. Mike Becher and I had the opportunity to visit Hastenbeck, which is about a five-minute drive from the town of Hameln. The battlefield site is still relatively undesturbed by developement, though a housing development in Hastenbeck town is slowly creeping closer and closer to the Schmiede Brink.

We were able to find a small stone battle monument beside one of the dirt farm tracks that runs up the Schmiede Brink. We continued up that hill in order to gain a better view of the Hanoverian batteries "B" and "C". It is fairly easy to locate the position of the B battery, as the ground levels off a bit in front of the Obensburg hillside.

I was particularly impressed by the steepness of the Schmiede Brink, facing the French advance, and by how well it would cover the approach of Contades' corps, and to a lesser extent, that of Broglie's. I found myself wondering how in the world could Cumberland not fortify or defend this key piece of real estate? It provided a covered approach to the key Hanoverian B Battery. Part of the answer lies in the fact that C Battery , in front of Voremburg, could sweep the frontside of the Schmiede Brink, provided that it (C Battery) did not fall into French hands; however, Chevert's flank attack put C Battery in jeopardy, and once this position was in French hands, the entire Hanoverian left flank was compromised.

Another thing that struck me was how easy it would have been for infantry to march up the back side of the Obensburg. The hill is very steep to the south, i.e. facing towrds the French advance, but north of Voremburg, the Obensburg slopes gently, and it was here that Chevert chose to attack. Again, I wondered how Cumberland could fail to see how easy an approach from the north could be. Surely, he could have spared 3-4 battalions of infantry for this task and safeguarded his left flank. I know that hindsight is 20-20, but if an untrained eye such as mine could see these two weaknesses in the Hanoverian deployment, then how could an experienced general such as Cumberland miss seeing the same?

Should any of the readers have the good fortune to visit Germany, I would highly recommend a few nights stay in Hameln. The town, known more for the Pied Piper and rats, has a nice museum with a diarama of the battle. Additionally, Hameln is centrally located within an easy drive of Minden, and the military museums in Hanover, Celle, and Braunschweig as well as the castle of the Graf Schaumburg -Lippe. Sadly, the battlefield of Minden is largely covered with suburban housing, although there is still a little bit of farmland between Stemmer and Maulbeerkamp where Sporcken's brigade attacked the French cavalry of Fitz James. I am told that the museum in Minden has a nice diorama.